In the 1880s native Indian unrest in Canada’s west swelled as the subjugation imposed by the Federal Government in Ottawa continued to cause extreme hardship amongst the Cree in western Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta. The dissention reached a boiling point on April 2, 1885 in the small community of Frog Lake when warriors of Chief Big Bear’s Band erupted in a killing spree which resulted in 9 white males of the community being murdered.
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Links

Spruce Meadows www.sprucemeadows.com

Trails of 1885    www.trailsof1885.com

 
Alberta Equestrian Federation    www.albertaequestrian.com
 

The Military Museums of Calgary

 
www.themilitarymuseums.ca
Steele's Scouts Samuel Benfield Steele and the North-West Rebellion by Wayne F. Brown published by Heritage House
Sam Steele The Wild West Adventures of Canada's Most Famous Mountie by Holly Quon published by Heritage House Publishing

 
 
 
About Sam Steele
Sam SteeleSam Steele enlisted local cowboys to augment members from the local Mounted Police garrison to make up his scouts. He signed up 25 policemen and 42 cowboys, offering between $2.00 and $2.50 pay per day, depending on rank.
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Steele Narrows

Steele NarrowsOn the morning of June 2, 1885 Sam Steele, commander of an elite portion of the Alberta Field Force known as “Steele’s Scouts”, looked down on the narrows from an open ridge about two kilometres to the south. After the battle at Frenchman Butte he and 65 men had left Ft. Pitt to pursue the fleeing Cree northward through the forest. Now, lying below, was a small native camp and through his binoculars he could see people wading the narrows (where the highway is today) eastward.
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